Our Nationless Humanity

By Christopher Serrano

-->

As I sit here in front of a white screen at I don't know what hour of the ante meridian, attempting to find the words to gather into sentences and the sentences to collect into paragraphs that describe all that I experienced a couple of weeks ago in Cuba, I find myself mute, incapable of finding a single letter that truly depict the remarkable opportunity I was given a couple of weeks ago by the Department of Hispanic Studies, the University, and most importantly, by my professor, Dr. Mabel Cuesta.

             When I look back upon my trip, I can't help but think of all the kind and courageous people I met during my short stay in Matanzas and feel obliged to them and the people of Cuba to not only write about how beautiful they were with us, but also about the reality in which they live in, about how the Cuban Revolution failed them and how the U.S Embargo is failing them as well. Due largely to the way the program was administered, that is to say, due greatly to my professor, who I am forever in depth with, we had the opportunity to see both the superficial, stereotypical island that the Cuban State wants all tourist to see and the real Cuba, where scarcity is abundant and abundance is scarce.

            During our six-day stay, my classmates, who I now consider friends, and I lived and worked alongside our now second family at Ediciones Vigía, where we not only learned the art of handcrafting books but also the art of subsisting with what is available. As we visited various museums, publishing houses, and sat through stimulating lectures, we got a sense of the cities history and the people who work hard to preserve it. Throughout the afternoons as we walked over the cobblestone roads, singing and dancing along our matancero friends, we felt their will to be happy despite all adversities and at night as we sat under the dimly lit stars on the stairs that surrounded the statue of José Martí at Parque libertad and conversed, we saw beyond each other and into the core of our nationless humanity.

             

Letters from the One Left Behind...

Hello everyone, 

My name is Emperatriz and I am, as the title suggests, the only student enrolled in the same class that was not able to join on this apparently wonderful excursion.

ABOUT THE CLASS

Many take classes just to fill requirements, and quickly forget the content of their syllabus. But, as a student at the University of Houston, boasting of our ranks as a Tier One institution, we have seen changes in the increasing quality of our courses. This class since the beginning caught my attention. It promised a comparative study on the editing and publishing techniques used in Hispanic literature in the United States, with a focus on Houston, to those that are used in our close (yet so distant) neighbor: Cuba. With this type of information in hand, I new that taking this class would open up my mind to information about a country and island which we know very little about. I have traveled quite a bit around the world, and because I had a trip to Europe planned, conflicting with the class trip to Cuba, I could not go. I regret this choice so much because a visit to Cuba, has proven to be, extremely more educational than I could have every imagined. I still stayed in the class knowing that it would give me an idea of their culture seeing their literature and economic ways seeing their business transactions and goals. Undoubtedly, part of this was accomplished by the many guest speakers, visits to editorials, and required readings that Ms. Cuestas included in every class. 

BEFORE THE TRIP

Cuba seemed to me to like such a peculiar experience for a student like me. I have traveled to countries that are considered 1st world and 3rd world, stayed on remote islands, and bought souvenirs at some of the most tourist attractions in the world. Also, I have participated in extensive community service doing tasks like cleaning, building homes, relief work, interpreting for the deaf, and serving food. In addition  I have been enrolled in college for many years, filling my work with a wide area of topics to make myself the most well rounded and knowledgeable person that I can before graduating this year. I have Cuban friends, and also I know people that have traveled to Cuba recently on religious trips. Before my classmates departed, I felt like I would miss out on seeing the natural beauty of Cuba: the beaches the trees and the sugar cane fields. Also, I was curious to see the "stuck in time" country that people talked about, with the old modeled cars, the old styled buildings and the not so trendy clothes. That glorified Cuban culture, was another thing I thought I would miss out on: the dancing, the food, and the different Spanish accents. Also, after having studied about the editorial in Matanzas, Vigia, I knew that I would have loved to engage in the hands on activities that are required in making a book along with the editors, writers, and talented people. Sounds like I pretty much had it down pat, right? Sounds like I learned a lot and knew what I was missing right?

AFTER THE TRIP

To answer the above question... no! I did not even come close to half of the things that I missed out on by not taking advantage of this wonderful and possible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. My classmates came back to me with the following inexplicable demeanor: they came back from smiles from ear to ear, laughs, and a glitter in their eyes. Do you know how a person comes back from Cancun with a wonderfully noticeable tan? That's what it seemed like: they all came back with their wonderfully noticeably tan attitude and heart! All you could do is stand back and try to figure out why. Was is the buildings? Beaches? Dancing? Books? Museums?  Workshops? Food? No... it was something better and even harder to explain: THE PEOPLE. Cubans, from what I heard, were very welcoming, kind, joyous, and friendly to them despite not having barely anything to share with them, they filled them up with laughs and loving gestures. They became so attached do them in a week, that they learned to not touch "touchy topics", ignore, as they do, the lack of water and the power outages, and suffer, along with them, the very poor living conditions that were a 180 degrees turn from the lives we live here in comfort. They had a wonderful time, but I feel that they learned more than I could ever have learned reading books here. Its, as the nickname of Cuba suggests, a paradox of feelings. They made great friends, but only to leave them behind in a situation that they have no choice about. They saw beautiful old things tore down buildings, only to wonder why people are allowed to live in them. They met very talented and  driven people, only to wonder why they cannot earn a better living for their family with their skills. They saw the country that is not touched, in the most part, by the imperialistic ways of our capitalist country, only to wonder... well only to wonder why people can still keep a warm smile for students visiting from  the US. I may never know the answers to the questions, and may never know the questions that should be asked, because I wasn't able to interact with common, every day Cubans. 

I hope this gives everyone an idea of how valuable a first hand trip to Cuba can be, and how enriching the experience can be on all levels. As the one who was left behind, I am in full support of this type of excursion being repeated in order to not just give us answers, but also get us to start asking the right questions. 

Sincerely, 

EMM